Cat Got Your Tongue?
by Fawn4Life
Summary: "I'm not an animal, Yang. I may have cat ears, but I am not a pet." In which Blake finally gets fed up with all the cat related puns.


Blake had been dreading this day since the day she had enrolled at Beacon Academy. The day when her teammates found out about her true heritage. She had never expected them to take it well (especially when one was on the same team as Weiss Schnee of all people.)

But this.

She had never expected this.

Sure, she had been grateful at first when Yang had brushed it off with an ease that still astounded her. But the longer it went on, the angrier Blake got. Cat pun after pun after pun. Yang always putting tuna fish sandwiches in front of her, or glasses of milk. Leaving little rubber mice around the dorm. Dusting various objects with catnip and dangling bits of yarn in front of her.

The more it happened, the hotter the ball of rage burned in Blake's chest, threatening to consume her. And while she'd never admit it out loud… The more it hurt. Like she was the butt of the joke that everyone found funny but her. Yang always seemed to get a kick out of it, and even Ruby and Weiss had gotten a few laughs out of a nicely timed 'cat got your tongue, Blake?'

The final straw came one morning when Blake had been rummaging around in the closet for her bow. She had taken to leaving it off while lounging about the dorm, but she had plans to go out into town today and still wasn't completely comfortable without it while in public. And then a bright red dot had entered her vision, flicking back and forth in front of her. Startled, Blake had automatically tried to swipe at it, only to hear the roaring laughter of her partner and her two teammates. Her friends.

"You missed, Blakey~" Yang chuckled, jiggling the laser pointer in her hands. "C'mon, you can get it~ Just a bit to the…. Left. Blake..?" She pocketed the laser pointer, nearly flinching back at the venom in Blake's gaze. "A-are you okay, Blake?"

Blake lifted her head to meet Yang's inquiring stare, her eyes burning with tears that she refused to let fall. "I'm not an animal," she hissed through her teeth, hands balled up at her sides. "Just because I'm a faunus doesn't mean you can treat me like one, Yang!"

The blonde stepped back, purple eyes wide in surprise. "Blake, I didn't mean it like- I didn't think-"

Blake scowled, wiping furiously at her eyes. "I thought you were different. I thought all of you were different!" She glanced at her other two teammates; Weiss had an apologetic look on her face, while Ruby looked ready to cry. "I might as well just call you Cardin Winchester!"

Yang reeled back as if slapped. "Blake, wait, just hold on!" the brawler pleaded. "I'm sorry, I swear I didn't think you'd-"

"You didn't think, obviously!" the faunus snarled, teeth bared and amber eyes narrowed to the point that her pupils were only small slivers. She shoved her way past her frozen partner, slamming the door shut behind her and cutting off the blonde's cry of "wait!"

She needed to get out of the dorm for a bit. Away from her so called friends so that she could calm down. Ignoring the heavy footsteps behind her, Blake ran.

And ran.

And ran.

Once the red had left her vision Blake slowed to a stop, panting slowly from the long run. She could no longer hear Yang following her either. As she lifted her head up, Blake took in the signs and various shops around her. She must have used her flash step to get all the way out here, because somehow Blake had wound up on one of the main drags in the city of Vale. Uncertain of what to do and unwilling to go back to the dorms just yet, Blake decided to meander through the city and kill time until she had to face the inevitable showdown.

Deep in her musings of what to do, it wasn't long before Blake found herself on the shadier side of the city. And of course, a lone faunus wandering into seedy territory was too easy to not take advantage of. The brunette's ears perked up as soon as she heard the catcalls from a small group of male humans walking down the street towards her.

"Hey there pussycat!"

"Here kitty, kitty! Why dontcha come over this way? I got some cream for you right here!"

"Dayum, I wouldn't mind being your scratching post!"

Freezing in place, Blake automatically reached up to feel for her bow. Only, it wasn't there. She had left it back in the dorm in her haste to get away from Yang. A spike of fear shot down her spine, and she quickly turned heel to walk back the way she came. The jeers followed her, taunting her. Just like every time she had gone out as a child without her bow to keep her ears hidden from sight. It was humans like these fine fellows that reminded her of why she kept her heritage hidden.

A hand on her shoulder stopped her. "I bet you're a real animal in bed, how about you come back to my place and we can- Urk!"

Golden flames caught Blake's attention as the hand on her shoulder was forcibly removed. A very angry looking Yang was gripping the man's wrist in a rather tight looking hold. Red eyes were narrowed in obvious disgust at the man who was whimpering in her grasp.

"I think you should apologize to my friend here and be on your merry way. Don't you?" Yang said, her voice low. She punctuated the end of her sentence with a small squeeze, and Blake swore she could hear bones grinding together.

"Agh, fuck- stop- okay! We're sorry! Just let go!"

"Yang, enough." Blake whispered. A wave of exhaustion washed over her and she wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to quell her nerves.

The blonde immediately let go of the man, who scampered over to his friends. She turned to her partner, the crimson slowly bleeding away from her eyes as concerned purple took over. "Are you okay?" she asked, doing a quick scan over Blake. "Did they hurt you?"

"No more than you did," Blake replied wryly. She almost cringed at the hurt on Yang's face, regretting her words instantly. "I'm sor-"

"Don't. I deserved that." Blake found herself drawn into a tight hug, Yang's arms winding around her to hold her in place. She could hear the blonde sniffling into her shoulder. "God, I'm so sorry Blake. I wasn't… I was just trying to lighten things up. I never meant to let it get that far, I was just joking around. I never wanted to- to hurt you!"

The last vestiges of Blake's anger faded away as Yang's tears began to dampen her shirt. As much as she wanted to stay mad at Yang, the feline found herself unable to hold onto her anger in the face of Yang's obvious regret and distress. She patted Yang's back awkwardly. "I know you didn't mean to."

"Is this what you go through? What all faunus go through? God, Blake, if I had known- I can't believe those guys said all of that stuff to you!" Blake shivered as she felt the brawler's body heat up against her.

"It doesn't usually happen so obviously out in the open like this… But yes," she said, voice quiet. "There's a reason I didn't tell you or the team when we first met. People like those men. People like Cardin and Weiss before she came around. People like-" she stopped herself, but Yang caught on, shoving herself away from Blake.

"People like me." The loathing in Yang's voice had Blake shaking her head.

"No." Blake grabbed Yang's hands in her own, running her fingers over rough hands. Rough and calloused, but also warm and caring and nurturing. Just like the blonde herself. "You were never malicious in what you were saying. That's the difference between you and Cardin. You just… Need to watch your words. I'm not an animal, Yang. I may have cat ears, but I am not a pet."

"I know, I promise! No more cat jokes!" Yang swore fervently. "I swear, Blake. I don't want to ever hurt you again. I lo-" she cut herself off, and Blake was rather confused to see Yang's face turn pink. Clearing her throat, Yang continued, "is there any way I can make it up to you?" she asked earnestly.

Thinking about it (and taking just long enough for Yang to begin to sweat) Blake finally nodded, giving Yang a serious look and delighting in the nervous gulp it got her. "You're going to.. take me out for dinner next week."

"I- What?"

Blake gave the dumbfounded blonde a small smile, turning to start the long trek back to Beacon. "You heard me. Next week after class. And make sure the place has seafood, got it?"

"O-okay!" Yang jogged after her partner, reaching forward to grab the girl's arm gently. Amber eyes looked up into purple ones, puzzled as they both came to a stop. "And Blake? Thank you.."

"For?"

"Forgiving me. I really am sorry, I won't do it again."

Feeling the weight in her chest completely disappear, Blake couldn't help but give Yang an amused smirk. "Well, I guess the only thing left to say is… A-paw-logy accepted."

"Blake!"


End file.
